Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! Previously our heroes had to contend with a whole host of new challenges, from colds, to cowardly internet conspiracy-mongers, and with a giant Kaiju rampaging into town on top of it! Ever since Sorato literally fell out of the sky into Japan – and the Meteokaiju following right behind him – crazy things have been happening all over the country.
We still don’t know how Sorato is connected to these events, and Sorato himself is currently stuck with a bad case of amnesia, even though he’s gotten over his illness from the previous episode.The only thing to do is wait for more strange things to occur, and hope they’ll eventually to some answers.
Not like our main characters are lacking any strange events to find – or to find them instead.
This episode starts out as usual, with Ayumu looking for some help. Her previous inquiries were based on a genuine enthusiasm for learning more about the Kaiju she has been tasked with studying. This week, however, she’s less enthused about following something that seems more like a hokey ghost story. Or, more likely she’s less enthused about meeting the trio of paranormal “investigators” who reported the strange phenomenon happening on Mt. Kirifuri.
According to the “Ghost Riders”, the mountain has always been associated with legendary beings and fantastic events. In the present day, the mountain’s history becomes a more urgent matter of fact when a strange fog seems to be transporting objects – and people – out of space and time.
Admittedly, I shared Ayumu’s disdain for the group of dorky, awkwardly-enthusiastic investigators at the start of the episode, but their knowledge of these paranormal events, and the technology they used to recreate the “Brigadoon” phenomenon, was quite legit. Unlike the Youtuber “Wolfey” in the previous episode, the three Ghost Riders are motivated by their own genuine enthusiasm, and have devoted their talents to studying the mountain, even if their enthusiasm isn’t acknowledged by others.
It was also downright hilarious to watch Sorato pick up on their “Yippie-yai-aie!” cheer immediately. He was right at home with the group!
Ultraman series throughout the years have frequently featured trios of characters investigating strange events. Ayumu, Kosei and Sorato as a group mirror the Ghost Riders team in that sense, even if they’ve been thrown together under unlikely circumstances. Even before the first Ultraman series, Ultra Q featured Yuriko, a spunky photojournalist, along with Jun and Ippei, a pilot and a mechanic respectively working for a small air service company. Again, an unlikely group of characters, but they had a knack for finding trouble involving monsters, aliens, otherworldly beings and terrifying science experiments gone wrong.
Ultraman Gaia featured a huge cast of characters, even just accounting for the defense team alone! In addition to the members of the XIG teams, another trio stood out, representing ordinary civilians thrust into these unlikely investigations of bizarre incidents. A news crew for the channel KCB frequently found themselves involved in the apocalyptic events of the show, either as the result of chasing an important story, or just happening to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe sometimes it’s the right place, depending on how you look at it. Their courageous reporting, and actions during some of these moments of crisis were just as important as the actions of the defense team.
Arguably, they were the single deciding factor that saved the world from destruction in the finale of Gaia. You’ll have to watch the show for yourself to see what I mean.
More recently, the series Ultraman Orb featured a trio of characters called the “Something Search People” or SSP, forming another callback to the original characters in Ultra Q. Like before, Naomi, Jetta and Shin form the main core of the cast – albeit alongside Ultraman Orb himself, Gai Kurenai. To be fair, they don’t realize he is Ultraman for quite some time. So much for their investigations!
I kid, I kid. Orb is a personal favorite of mine, and the quirky characters are a large reason why. This episode of Omega actually reminded me a lot of the tone and style of that show. One of the Ghost Riders even name-dropped the Pacific Records, a frequent source of ominous foreshadowing during the events of Orb.
I wasn’t exactly surprised to find out the writer for this episode was Takao Nagano, who was also one of the head writers for Orb. That certainly isn’t a complaint, this episode was a ton of fun to watch, and introduced an equally fun group of supporting characters, who I hope will return later on.
Now, I seem to be forgetting one other character introduced in this episode, who doesn’t seem to have a name yet. The ghostly boy seems to be out of place in time and trapped on the mountain, even after they defeat the Kaiju trapped in the fog. When the episode ends, we still don’t know who he is, or why he’s here on Mt. Kirifuri… but he knows who Omega is.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a little while longer for some answers to that particular investigation. Until then, stay tuned right here to Ultraman Connection.
